Explicit Systems

We often talk about the Unix philosophy, but we rarely hold our modern stacks up to that original mirror. If we brought Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, or Doug McIlroy into 2027 and showed them the state of modern computing (Electron apps wrapping web browsers, systemd, sprawling dependency trees like node_modules), they would likely be horrified by the rampant uncertainty and tech debt.

But if they were tasked with "redeeming" our modern software stack, where would they start?

• Would they scrap the entire graphical stack and start over?
• Would they look at modern package management and push for a return to source-based simplicity, or would they actually appreciate something like NixOS?
• What is one piece of modern "standard" software that completely betrays the original vision of auditable, intentional computing?

How would the "forefathers" of computing fix our modern mess?

In 1989, Richard Gabriel penned the famous essay "Lisp: Good News, Bad News, How to Win Big," introducing the concept of "Worse is Better." He argued that the Unix/C philosophy (simplicity of design, even if the interface is rough) would beat the MIT/Lisp philosophy of "The Right Thing" (correct, consistent, and complete software).

He was right. "Worse is Better" conquered the world, giving us the internet, Linux, and massive software ecosystems. But it also gave us our current world: rampant tech debt, supply chain attacks, and pervasive uncertainty.

As users of our particular software tools, we are all, in our own ways, trying to inject "The Right Thing" back into our computing lives by demanding auditable, FLOSS-first, and intentional systems.

Have we reached the breaking point of "Worse is Better"? Can we realistically return to "The Right Thing" in a modern, hyper-connected world, or is explicit, intentional computing now just a niche craft for the few? How do we build bridges back to correctness without totally isolating ourselves?

References:

1. "Worse is Better" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worse_is_better

by Thomas Scoville

Original article: https://web.archive.org/web/20000529125023/http://www.wenet.net/~scoville/PCarticle.html

by Jonathan de Boyne Pollard, creator of nosh.

Reflections from Michał Górny